Insufficient balance

  "Wake up!", Yang Ling woke up with a start in the midst of the loud horn sounds, and jumped up suddenly. Because Han Youniang was following him, it wasn't convenient for him to stay with Huang Xiancheng and others in the big dormitory of Yue Lou, so Yang Ling slept in the Yuhuang Pavilion between the East and North city gates.

  Han Youniang rubbed her eyes and woke up with a start. Yang Ling jumped down from the wall, running while shouting: "The Tartars are attacking the city, you stay here honestly, I'll go take a look".

  Everywhere was the sound of killing, soldiers were running back and forth on the city wall, constantly swinging their swords to cut off the hooks thrown up from below, and using sharp arrows to counterattack those below. Inside the city wall, about every ten steps there was a gallows with thin iron chains, in the middle was a cylindrical wooden log with a diameter of one foot and a length of about one zhang, on which were exposed densely packed iron nails about five inches long, somewhat resembling a giant wolf-tooth club.

  Two soldiers hid under the city wall, only to raise the wooden stick and throw it down at the city below, then heard a burst of miserable cries, and then shook the gallows at both ends, and strangled that "wolf-toothed club" back.

  This siege tool, although somewhat cumbersome and time-consuming, has several archers assisting at both ends, which can make up for the deficiency, and its lethality is not small.

  He hastily ran to the front of the wall, just as he was supporting himself on it, a sharp arrow whizzed past his cheek with a "whoosh", and shot into the doorframe of the Jade Emperor Temple. The arrow tail buzzed and trembled, startling Yang Ling into a cold sweat.

  Yang Ling calmed down and hid behind a wall, peeking downwards at an angle. He couldn't help but be shocked - how did so many enemies suddenly appear?

  Only the city below was full of Tatar soldiers, the city wall was tens of meters high, they used hooks and ladders to climb up the city wall, ferociously climbing up without fear of death. Behind them were large numbers of archers on horseback galloping back and forth shooting arrows upwards to cover their attack on the city. The archers on the city walls also continuously shot arrows in response, but there were too many enemies and not enough defenders, despite having the geographical advantage, they were still suppressed and could not lift their heads up.

  Yang Ling rushed towards the South City Gate, barely making it to the top of the city wall, when suddenly a loud explosion shook the ground, causing him to jump in fright. Looking down, he saw that a large crater had been blown open on the ground, with over ten people lying motionless, and a horse with its legs blown off was still whinnying pitifully in a pool of blood.

  Yang Ling secretly cursed, unable to see that the artillery was so powerful at this time. Did this era already have explosive shells? He still thought that the cannonballs of this era were all solid iron balls.

  However, the cannon fired a shot and the smoke was so thick that Yang Ling had just run over, panting. Choked by the gunpowder, he coughed repeatedly. As the smoke slowly dissipated, Huang Xian, the county magistrate, appeared from behind the city wall parapet. He hastily beckoned to Yang Ling, saying: "Worthy nephew, come quickly and be careful not to get hit by stray arrows."

  Yang Ling rushed over, panting, and saw that in front of the city gate, three large cannons were set up, facing downwards. Several artillerymen were busily loading and filling the cannons with gunpowder. The fuse of one cannon on the left had already been lit and was crackling away. The artillerymen covered their ears and closed their eyes, and then a deafening explosion shook the air. The position of the cannon was instantly shrouded in smoke, making it impossible to see even a shadow.

  Yang Ling was smoked so that his eyes were red, and when the thick smoke in front of him slowly dispersed, he saw that the rear seat of the large cannon with a bracket at the bottom in front of the city building had gone out for more than ten feet. This was still because there were iron anchors fixed on the body of the cannon, otherwise it would not be known where this big gun would jump to. Several artillerymen were pushing the big gun back to its original position.

  As the Tartar cavalry scattered and fled, avoiding the direct front, this cannon, although shaking the earth with its mighty roar, only killed one person and injured several others, giving a feeling of using a big cannon to hit mosquitoes.

  Yang Ling asked loudly: "Huang Daren, why did so many Tartars come suddenly? Where is General Jiang?"

  "Huang County Magistrate pointed to the front and shouted: 'The Erli Half Station has fallen, the Tartars have increased their troops, General Jiang is directing the battle in front, there are only over a hundred soldiers on the city wall, it's a case of being unable to take care of both ends, you quickly go to the station office, tell the people at the station office to come and defend the city.'"

  "Alright!" Yang Ling responded, turning around and running down to the city. At this time, Liu Dianshi led more than 200 militiamen rushing up to the city, being directed by a sentry officer to disperse to various parts of the city wall. These militiamen were just ordinary civilians who had not received any military training, they were flustered and confused, after listening to the soldiers' explanation, without caring whether there were enemies below, they picked up rocks and started throwing them down, making those soldiers stamp their feet in anger.

  These people also didn't know how to protect themselves, a militiaman who poked his head out was shot in the chest by an arrow. Han Youniang rushed over and held him up, the other militiamen were immediately frightened and dared not show their heads again, even though the government soldiers loudly scolded them.

  At this time, the streets were empty, and the people were indeed staying at home, not daring to run around, under the scolding of the officials. Just as he ran to the crossroads, Yang Ling saw Ma Yi, the chief of the postal station, leading more than a dozen messengers, driving three horse-drawn carriages, hastily approaching from the opposite direction. Yang Ling quickly stopped in his tracks and shouted loudly: "Chief Ma, the Tartars outside the city are scattered and attacking the city, the defending army is short-handed, Huang County Magistrate asks you to send all the messengers to the city to assist in the defense."

  Ma Ji Chen jumped off his horse and said, "Where are there still people's hands? The east gate and west gate also have a large number of Tartars attacking the city. They lack siege equipment, so they dispersed and climbed the city walls everywhere. My men have all been dispatched, only these are left, and they are just sending cannons to Mr. Jiang."

  Yang Ling heard that there were still big guns, and he couldn't help but feel a little happy in his heart. However, thinking about the effect of the iron thing just now, he felt somewhat disappointed. He stamped his foot and said: "Now the enemy is attacking from all sides, mainly because the defenders can't keep up with it, I'm afraid the big guns won't be of much use."

  Ma Ji Chen directed the two horse-drawn vehicles to head towards the east and west gates respectively, while he himself led one vehicle to continue advancing. He said: "Young Master is mistaken, this is not General Cannon, but 'Strike Enemy Divine Mechanism Pomegranate Cannon', '威远 Stone Cannon' and 'Ten Thousand People Enemy Lychee Cannon'. They are most convenient for defending the city."

  Yang Ling was baffled, and Ma Yi saw that he didn't understand, so he explained it to him in a hurry. It turned out that the "cannon" Ma Yi had mentioned was actually an explosive bomb, and the "Strike Enemy Divine Machine Grenade Cannon" was similar to modern hand grenades. Made of crude iron, its shape resembled a ripe pomegranate.

  "Wei Yuan Shi Pao" is made of stone, filled with gunpowder, and each stone bullet contains 100 small stones, causing great damage when exploded. "Wan Ren Di Li Zhi Pao" has the largest volume, with a clay pot filled with gunpowder, as well as broken stones, iron fragments, and caltrops, which can fly hundreds of steps after explosion, injuring many enemies.

  Yang Ling was overjoyed when he heard this, remembering that when he watched "The Burning of the Summer Palace", the Qing Dynasty fought against the Eight-Nation Alliance with human wave tactics and long spears, but unexpectedly, the Ming Dynasty's firearms were so advanced. With such things, even if one is just a scholar, it would be easy to defend a city wall alone, and he couldn't help but rub his fists in excitement.

  The arrival of this batch of bombs had a huge impact, and the Tartar cavalry using cold weapons were fearless in death, but they could not resist the explosives at all. As explosions erupted everywhere, countless people died or were injured below the city, and the siege temporarily stopped.

  More than 40 Ming soldiers were killed or wounded on the city wall, plus unknown numbers of civilian militiamen who had been defending themselves, totaling around 100 people. Military and civilian doctors were busy treating the wounded everywhere.

  Jiang personally beheaded several Tatar soldiers, got excited, held two bloody sabers and loudly scolded the militiamen for being foolish, occasionally kicking them in the buttocks, and rebuking the soldiers to teach them how to fight. Huang Xiancheng and Liu Dianshi went to inspect the east and west cities to check the casualties.

  Yang Ling climbed to the top of the city wall and saw that the Tartars had retreated beyond the Three Arrows Ground, brewing their next attack. The Tartar troops outside the east and west cities also began to gather there, with a total of over 3,000 people. Han Youniang obtained a whistle rod from a familiar official and stood beside him, carefully guarding him. Although she was petite, she had a heroic spirit.

  Yang Ling saw that there were still so many enemy troops outside the city, and even if it was a pure consumption, it was uncertain whether the remaining defenders could withstand the second round of attacks. Moreover, the most powerful defensive weapon, those bombs, had less than twenty left, which made him somewhat worried.

  However, the Ming army's performance has far exceeded his expectations. He did not expect that the military technology of the Ming Dynasty had developed to such an extent. In his impression, the Ming Dynasty was always weak and vulnerable to attack, with emperors who did not attend to their duties and eunuchs wreaking havoc on the country, and he knew nothing else about it.

  However, for an ordinary person who is more familiar with Qing palace dramas, he can only know so much. If he didn't know that the current crown prince was Zhu Houzhao and happened to have seen the movie "The Playful Dragon and Phoenix", he wouldn't even know who became emperor after Emperor Hongzhi, let alone have a deeper understanding of the Ming dynasty.

  As the Ming History was compiled by Qing people, there are unspoken implications. The plays and novels derived from it are even more unreliable. A "Yangzhou Shiri Ji" and a "Jiading Tucheng Jilue" were lost in mainland China for over 200 years and only rediscovered in Japan after more than 200 years, which shows the thoroughness of literary inquisition during the Qing dynasty.

  In fact, the Ming Dynasty was not far from capitalism at that time. The iron output was the sum of the whole Europe, one-third of the world's silver flowed into China due to trade, and the industrial output accounted for more than 60% of the world, while during the so-called Kangxi heyday, the output only accounted for 6% of the world.

  No wonder Matteo Ricci, a missionary in China during the Ming dynasty, wrote in his "China Journal": "Here material production is extremely rich and abundant, with everything available; sugar is whiter than in Europe, cloth is more exquisite than in Europe... People are dressed in finery, with elegant demeanor, common people are happy and polite, with refined speech." While Macartney, the British envoy who visited during the Qianlong period, said: "Everywhere there is astonishing poverty... Many people have no clothes to wear... The army is as tattered as a beggar's."

  In the morning of China, some like Japan in later generations, what can be invented is invented by itself, and what cannot be invented is bought from foreign countries at a high price for research and imitation. At that time, the "Divine Machine Battalion" in the capital city had 5,000 people per battalion, with 3,600 thunderbolt cannons, 200 chain guns, and 400 hand-held guns. What kind of modern equipment is this!

  However, the irreconcilable contradictions between economic and cultural advancement and political and military corruption led to a more backward culture dominating relatively civilized China, time miraculously flowed backwards, scientists became extinct, and advanced firearms were buried.

  The musket was dismissed as "a strange and cunning trick" and abolished, and the trigger-ignition fire lance guns captured by the Qing army in the "Jiangxi War" were only kept by Kangxi for his own amusement. He ordered the Qing army to prohibit the use of this new type of firearm, on the grounds that "it would not interrupt the bow and arrow spear granted by our ancestors". By the time of the Opium Wars, the Qing soldiers who held large knives and spears were completely unfamiliar with firearms, and even regarded them as evil objects, thinking that they could be broken with dog blood.

  Yang Ling naturally didn't know much about these things, he just saw that the weapons used by the Ming army were beyond his expectations, and thinking of the Eight Banners Army sweeping across China later on, for a moment he couldn't figure out the reason behind it.

  Wang Zhubu and the elderly villagers led a group of people to deliver food to the city, and the owner of "Hongyelu" specially slaughtered a large fat pig to reward the soldiers. Han Youniang took two bowls of rice, one bowl of braised pork belly, and called out: "Sir, come and eat."

  Yang Ling finally came out of his daze and hastily took the food from Han Youniang's hands, placing it on the city wall covered in thick snow. The two people stood by the wall and started eating. Yang Ling was really starving and shoveled half a bowl of rice into his mouth before he noticed that Han Youniang was eating slowly, smiling at him with her eyes narrowed. He couldn't help but ask curiously: "What are you looking at?"

  Han Youniang smiled and said in a soft voice: "I see that the young master is eating with relish and his heart is joyful."

  Yang Ling's eyes were a little moist, he saw Han Youniang again competing with himself to eat dishes, leaving the meat in the bowl, the weather was cold, and it was about to congeal into oil. He hastily picked up two pieces and put them in her bowl, ordering: "Hurry up and finish the meat, your husband doesn't like eating fatty pork, do you know?"

  Han Youniang sweetly agreed, using chopsticks to pick up the meat and send it into Yang Ling's bowl. She herself was eating rice, her eyes peeking out from above the rim of the bowl, shining brightly as she looked at him. Yang Ling couldn't help but smile, obediently picking up the meat with his chopsticks and starting to chew loudly. Han Youniang watched him eat with relish, her big eyes curving into satisfied crescents.

  After finishing dinner, Han Youniang quickly grabbed the bowl to take it back, and Yang Ling saw that there was a grain of rice stuck to the corner of her mouth. He couldn't help but smile and stretch out his finger to gently scrape it off from her lips. Han Youniang was taken aback, seeing the grain of rice on his finger, and felt somewhat embarrassed. Seeing Yang Ling not flicking away the rice, but instead putting that grain of rice into his own mouth, her pretty face suddenly turned bright red.

  She hastily looked around, realizing that no one had noticed her husband's almost flirtatious intimate gesture, and only then did she relax her tense shoulders. Seeing her husband still smiling at her, she couldn't help but blush and glance away, quickly picking up her bowl and turning to escape.

  Yang Ling saw that she was also wearing men's clothes, but her waist still showed a slender figure, and the gentle swaying had a kind of moving charm. Unconsciously, his heart fluttered, thinking that one day she would give her tenderness and love to another man, suddenly filled with jealousy: "Nowadays, the customs are like this, Young Lady will not remarry, right? Then can I..."

  He suddenly turned around, grabbed a handful of pure snow and rubbed it on his cheek: "Damn it, what were you thinking? If emotions are invested too much, wouldn't that make her even more miserable? You haven't tried, how do you know she can't fall in love with someone else?"

  "Fall in love with someone else?" The thought jumped out, and he found that it was more unbearable than losing her again. The balance of love began to waver between selfishness and "greatness", and his face melted like snow into tears.

  "Uggghhh...", the ox horn sounded inopportunely, Yang Ling resentfully wiped the snow water from his face and bent down to pick up a twenty-odd kilogram heavy grinding stone.